Known as "The Voice of Progress", IUNT is Michigan Top African-American owned Independent Progressive-Left Politics, News, Commentary and Talk Radio resource. Home of Independent Underground Radio LIVE (IURL) Politics Affiliate Podcast Network with over 2 MILLION downloads and listens.

Independent Underground Radio on Soundcloud

Monday, November 19, 2012

Why to support Small Business Saturday over hyper-consumerism Black Friday

Independent Underground Op/Ed

Photo Credit-Google ImagesSupport localized retailers on Small Business Saturday over BlackFriday or "Stuff Turkey Down Your Throat and Get to Work" Thursday.

Lately, we've been trying to find a topic to inspire our love of writing. Since the General Election is over, nearly all ballots have been counted and the media seems to turned laser focused who General David Pertarus is sleeping with, I haven't felt a need to write at all as gossip does not embolden firing up keyboard Stokes in the least. One event impulsed my passion of writing and its' my former annual sudo-holiday of consumerism activity called, Black Friday.

I'm boycotting Black Friday 2012. This is a first, as either I worked in retail running B.F. sales as a former Store Manager or shopped at B.F. sales events for the last 10+ years. Yet, this year consumerism or better yet greed associated with Black Friday or worse Turkey Thursday, has totally tuned me off.

Retail employees in general can look forward to three holidays off: Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Within the last couple of months in 2012, Retail Executives far removed from any sales floor decided to make Black Friday, "Stuff the Turkey down your throat and get to work" Thursday. Many stores are opening Midnight on Friday and others as early as 8:00 PM on THURSDAY, otherwise known as Thanksgiving Day.

Basically, highly paid Corporate Retail Executives spending Thanksgiving home with their families receiving texts about the regional sales numbers, have unilaterally decided to deny employees who only have THREE holidays off usually without pay one, of those holidays.

Instead of thinking about how unfair these actions are, many reading this musing post will line up at Walmart or Toys or Us starting at 6PM on Thursday -you know...to be FIRST in line and all. Fighting though a retail doorway to grab a "one time" sales price, which could have been received shopping two weeks prior to Black Friday, when the store location was clearly OPEN for BUSINESS.

I could go into the strategies behind retail sales pricing as I know this like the back of my hand. Let's just say you....Mr. and Mrs. Consumer....are NOT receiving the best price on a product the day after Thanksgiving or now, on Thanksgiving itself. High demand increases, not decreases prices. That's basic economics 101!

Really, before venturing out to stand in line for what's believe to be the "deal of the year", think five minutes or more about the worker pulled away from a family gathering on Thursday, just to serve your unmet need to "buy stuff".

In the end, if you determine making other drop important family gatherings on Thanksgiving day "just not right", wait two weeks to buy the same item. Bet, no really triple bet you'll find that item at the same price your consumerism thoughts is untruthful telling you...."I must have _________ "fill in the blank" right now!

Better than standing in line for the "must have" deal of the year supposedly rest on Friday after eating the Turkey and sides dinner, then venture out the next day to support a localized retailer on Small Business Saturday. They would really APPRECIATE your business on a normal and regular day of scheduled work.

Independent Underground (Formerly ROJS Radio LIVE) seeks to bring a different type of SANITY Media into the Mainstay with over 12K monthly podcast listeners and growing!